Rules of Engagement
by Cirak
Summary: Tempers are running high between the crows and hawks and Tibarn is desperate to maintain their delicate unity. All Naesala wants is to be able to atone for his past mistakes. Eventual TxN.


"Marry me."

"Hell no."

"You're being selfish."

"You expected otherwise?"

The king's forehead crumpled into a frown at the retort. He wasn't sure on how he was supposed to answer that. In all honesty he really hadn't expected anything so noble as self-sacrifice from the former King of Kilvas. He doubted that Naesala even knew what sacrifice meant. Or at least wasn't aware that the word could extend beyond the ritual slaughter of innocents.

"I was _hoping_ you'd be willing to accept some sort of responsibility for your people." He said tightly and scowled when the other laguz snorted his disagreement.

Upon returning to his small house outside the Begnion capital Naesala had had nothing more complicated than making something edible for supper on his mind. This pleasantly simple line of thought was quickly snarled and knotted when, upon entering the house, he'd found Tibarn standing in the middle of his living room looking thoroughly uncomfortable. Naesala's decent mood had evaporated on the spot and he had told Tibarn to get out. When that order had been ignored the crow had simply turned to leave the building himself. He'd gotten one foot out the door before Tibarn had hauled him back into the house with a no-nonsense grip.

"They're no longer _my_ people, they're yours or maybe you don't remember how you were voted as ruler of the newly unified bird tribe?" Naesala said with more than a touch of mocking. He was careful to stay outside of Tibarn's immediate reach though; the hawk was still testy with him and could probably be provoked into violence.

Tibarn sighed and resisted the urge to massage his temples. It had only been two years since the bird tribes had unified and already there was dissent in the population. Dissent that might rapidly turn into a civil war if not dealt with quickly and efficiently. Hawks and ravens, as it turned out, were not capable of living cheek and jowl with each other. The hawks still resented Naesala's involvement in their massacre and the ravens would bristle at any snide remark delivered on the subject. Naesala had done what he had with his people's best interest in mind.

Verbal conflicts had eventually lead to minor skirmishes and those had progressed in intensity until it had become nothing short or two rival armies staring each other down.

And now the ravens were threatening not only to pull out of Serenes but to start a war with what remained of the hawk tribe. It was Reyson who had pointed out (with a rather wicked amount of amusement, Tibarn thought) that Tibarn's best chance at solving the conflict before it got any worse was to strike a partnership with the former raven king.

It had _seemed _innocent enough. After all, Tibarn had assumed that the heron had meant sharing his leadership with the crow. It was when Reyson had raised his eyebrows and informed him that there was a _name_ for such a pact that things had started going downhill. So far, Tibarn couldn't see the bottom of that hill. And so here he was, trying to convince Naesala to marry him.

"The ravens have never accepted me as king, as I'm sure you well know. I frankly wouldn't be the least bit surprised if you were encouraging them to be insubordinate and difficult."

Black wings fanned themselves outwards, a common sign of aggression among the bird tribe, and Naesala's eyes narrowed angrily. "Don't blame me for your short-comings, _hawk_. I haven't been anywhere near Serenes since it became the capital for the bird tribes. You can even ask Sanaki about it if you want; she keeps me so busy that I wouldn't even have had time to cause trouble if I'd wanted to."

Tibarn briefly considered flaring his own wings in response to Naesala's aggression but dismissed the idea quickly. From there, things could easily degrade into more verbal conflict and possibly lead to a physical altercation as well. None of that would help him in getting the crow to agree to his proposal and Tibarn desperately needed Naesala to do just that. The fragile unity of the bird tribes was very possibly dependent on the outcome of this situation.

"I've already spoken to the Empress actually." Tibarn said and ignored the agitated flap of Naesala's wings and the colour that was starting to appear in his cheeks. "She says that you do very good work for her by resolving conflicts between the beorc and laguz. She _also_ mentioned that you were looking for atonement."

"Your point?" Naesala demanded tightly, he made himself a mental note to go and tie Sanaki's purple hair around one of the cathedral pillars for not keeping his secrets...well...secret.

"What better way to achieve atonement then what I'm offering?" He stated with the air of someone who is explaining something complicated to a very young child. "You could help keep the peace between the bird tribes. For good this time."

"No." He answered flatly, crossing his arms over his chest with a scowl. Tibarn could talk until he was blue in the face but Naesala had absolutely no intention of spending the rest of his substantial life holding hands with his rival.

"Then the lives of the hawks, ravens and herons that get killed in the war the will result are on your head." Tibarn said coolly and noted with some satisfaction that Naesala looked distinctly uncomfortable at the mention of herons dying. If it took underhanded measures to get the crow to agree then so be it. Tibarn could do underhanded if he really wanted to.

The thing the aggravated the former king the most was that Tibarn was making valid points. While working for Sanaki had yielded him a peace of mind (and a rather quarrelsome friendship with the Empress) he had never been able to quite let go of his guilt over the blood pact. His foolishness for allowing himself to be tricked into signing it and his resulting actions as he attempted to protect his people from his own stupidity. The chance to do some good for the people he had hurt the most was tempting if only because it would go a long way in soothing his conscious.

But still, it was _Tibarn_.

"I'll think about it." He said simply while turning away from the hawk so that he could go and start a kettle of tea in his kitchen. He could feel the startings of a massive headache looming in the back of his mind.

"You'll _think_ about it?" Apparently Tibarn didn't recognize a dismissal when he heard one. Crunching up tea leaves with more enthusiasm then was required he bit out an answer.

"Yes, I'll _think _about it. You didn't really expect to just throw myself at you in acceptance did you?" He'd reduced his leaves to little more than a powder by now. When he still didn't hear any sound s indicating that Tibarn was leaving he tossed his tea powder into the kettle angrily. "This is you exit cue, hawk."

"Believe it or not, crow, I don't have time to wait for you to get over your cold feet. The bird tribes are within an inch of tearing into each other." Judging by the tone of voice, Naesala got the impression that Tibarn had _not_ appreciated being told 'maybe'.

"Come back in two days, I'll have an answer for you by then. You can keep your country from falling into ruin for that long, right?" He still refused to turn around and look at him but the angry sound of wings flaring behind him gave the former king cause to smirk. Seconds later, there was an almighty slam as Tibarn stormed out of the little house and out into the night.

"Hope something eats you." He muttered nastily while prodding his floating tea leaves with a spoon.

Two days. That would be enough time to sort this mess out into something comprehensible. It would also be enough time to give Sanaki the tongue-lashing she deserved.


End file.
